ZTE might not be a name many people think of
when asked to name smartphone manufacturers, but the Chinese company is
expanding fast and is on its way to becoming one of the major Android phone
producers. Their latest phone is one of the cheapest Android smartphones
available, with prices as low as £72 in the UK without a contract. Despite such
a low price the phone manages to pack in some impressive specifications
including a quad-core processor.

While none of the
technical specifications on the device can match the latest flagship high end
phones from the likes ofHTCandSamsung,
this phone outclasses the competition in its low price range. The processor in
this device is faster than you'd usually find in smartphone models costing
double the price of thisZTEphone.
A quad-core processor in such a low cost device is almost unheard of, and only
a select few phones have anything higher than this number of cores. The speed
at 1.2GHz isn't bad, but is a long way from the 2.3 GHz offered by the latest
expensive phones.

Other stats aren't quite
as impressive as the processor but are still great for the price range. At 1GB
the RAM offered in the phone is as much as you can expect from a budget device,
and only half what is available currently in the latest generation of top end
smartphones. The 4GB of internal storage is low, but not for a budget
smartphone. If you need any more than the 2GB of space available on the device
(the operating system takes up the other 2GB) then you can always purchase a
cheapmicroSDcard to add up to another 32GB of
space for apps, photos and music.

These stats won't mean
much to those who aren't technology geeks, but in practice they mean that the
device is pretty speedy for its price range and you'll be able to do
multitasking without any problems. There should be no problem running most
apps, although some of the latest games might run a little slow. The phone
performs better than anything else in its price range currently on the market.

The phone doesn't come
with a 4G LTE chip, but most people purchasing a budget smartphone will have
little need for this expensive form of data. The HSPA+ 3G chip can still
produce very good download speeds that are capable of allowing you to watch
live video streams or video chat your friends.As a leading mobile phone site explains,
a good HSPA+ connection can offer speeds high enough that going with a 4G
network offers no benefit. There's naturally also WiFi and Bluetooth included.

The camera is very good
for the price range. Although the 5 megapixels doesn't match up to some of the
higher numbers offered in more expensive phones, the quality of the images
taken are good for the price and you've even got an LED flash for taking photos
in the dark. Unlike many other budget phones there's also a forward facing
camera for the increasingly important video calling use.

A phone's display is one
of the key factors influencing everyone's purchasing decision. No one wants to
be staring at a phone whose resolution or viewing angles give them eye strain.
Luckily ZTE have put some thought into how to get the best display without
increasing the price and have managed to get some impressive technologies into
this such as in plane switching, giving the phone wide viewing angles. The 4
inch screen uses LCD, and has a resolution that gives a perfectly respectable
pixels per inch of 233. Overall the screen feels much better than you'd expect
from a phone of this price point.

This is a great low cost
phone and one we'd strongly recommend to the budget conscious and those buying
their first smartphone.